He's Still Your Brother
by SadieAnnabethMellark
Summary: Bill hated his brother. After all they had been through and with everything going on, he just walked out on the family. A late night talk with Sirius changes that.


**He's Still Your Brother**

**By. SadieAnnabethMellark**

**Summary:** Bill hated his brother. After all they had been through and with everything going on, he just walked out on the family. A late night talk with Sirius changes that.

**Disclaimer:** I'm just another one of those average people who don't, unfortunately, own Harry Potter. Sorry to get your hopes up.

* * *

Bill hated Percy. He really truly did. His once loving, though snooty, brother had been replaced with an ass-kissing ministry puppet. And he hated that Percy let himself become that way. He had decided to turn his back on the light, Dumbledore, Harry, and his family all for a job.

Bill was no fool. He heard the row between his father and his brother. Though the younger kids were up stairs in bed, he and Charlie had heard the whole thing. His Mum and Dad had all been oblivious at first, but they all soon caught on to the fact that they knew their brother would not be returning home anytime soon. Their excuses that Percy was working over time at work didn't work on them like it did on Ron and Ginny. Fred and George, however, Bill knew they knew something was up, but he also knew that they really didn't give a damn about it.

He wished he could be like the twins and could care less about Percy...but that wasn't possible.

And that's why he was sitting in the kitchen of Grimmuald place at one o'clock in the morning, having a butter beer. He couldn't sleep because he could get his prat of a brother out of his head. He worried about how Percy was doing and if he was alright. He wondered if he was safe, if he was happy, if he missed them. He knew he shouldn't really care, after all it was Percy's decision to leave, but he couldn't help but worry and wonder.

"What're you doing up?" A sleepy deep voice asked. Bill looked over his shoulder at Sirius who was leaning up against the door, his eyes looking even more haunted then normal and his face pale and sweaty.

"Can't sleep. You?" He asked giving a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah. Same here." Sirius agreed as he moved to the cupboard and brought out the bottle of firewhiskey and a glass. Bill had a feeling it was more like the after affects of Azkban keeping his host awake, but though he didn't know Sirius real well yet, he knew better than to mention that topic.

So they sat in silence for a while. Bill drank his butter beer and Sirius started sipping at his glass of Firewhiskey. Their eyes didn't really meet. They were off in their own worlds.

Bill continued to curse and worry about his younger brother. He just couldn't understand how Percy could do such a thing. He didn't understand how he could just pretend like nothing had been happening in the world. How could he just forget all of those late night conversations between the three eldest Weasley children about what was happening in the world? How could he forget all of his worries about You-Know-Who coming to power again? How could he forget the letters that he sent to Bill and Charlie expressing the same concerns? But secretly, Bill knew deep down inside what it was. Their mother's constant badgering about ambition and success and power and wealth had been taken to heart by Percy. And once he was offered his job as Barty Crouch's Secretary right after he graduated, he had achieved all of those things. In Percy's eyes, he had out done all of this family so far. And the bloody prat had been so proud of himself.

"He's still your brother." Sirius' voice broke Bill out of his deep thinking.

"What?" Bill, still partially off in his own world, couldn't quite comprehend what Sirius was talking about.

"Percy. He's still your brother." Sirius looked at him with weary eyes.

"Yeah. I know. But that doesn't change anything." Bill muttered before taking a swig of his drink.

"Sure it does."

"No. Really it doesn't."

Sirius sighed, "Really. It does. It changes so many things."

"How would you know?" Bill challenged. It's not like Sirius had any siblings walk out on the family. It's not like he had to deal with a suck up sibling.

Sirius was quite for a minute, swirling the contents of his glass around in it slightly, "I had a younger brother, too." Sirius' voice was just barely above a whisper.

Bill stared at the man in front of him. Sirius has a brother?

"Was the biggest blithering idiot I thought I ever knew." Sirius added.

"Why?" Bill found his mouth blurting out.

Sirius looked up at him and gave Bill a soft smile, though his eyes were foggy, like he was far away from the kitchen they sat in, "We use to be really close as kids. One of the sweetest people you could find. He use to- to crawl in bed with me when thunderstorms rolled in. He use to be terrified of them." Bill wanted to ask what this had to do with him, but kept his mouth shut.

"I'd always share my Cockroach Clusters with him, they were his favorite. We were two peas in a pod. Laughing and smiling and being young together. And then, I guess you could say, that everything went down hill when I went off to Hogwarts. At first it was great we wrote back and forth all the time. He was the only person in my family who was- was nice to me after I got sorted. All the rest of them, except him and a few of my other disowned cousins, all shunned me and treated me horribly. I was no longer family in their mind."

Bill couldn't help but feel sad for Sirius as he listened to the man talk. He knew the Black's had a reputation for being blood purity maniacs and strictly members of the Slytherin house. They were a one of the five main wealthy families that practically owned the wizarding Britan.

"But, while I was gone, my parents started training him up to be the new heir of the household. Since I was the oldest, I was suppose to become the next Master Black, but once I got sorted into Gryffindor, it all flew out the window. So they started training up their spare. By the time he got to school, I was a third year and there was some tension between us. It only got worse as time went on and as things happened. Voldemort became more powerful. My parents really pushed him into joining the death eaters, a noble cause in their eyes. I ran away to the Potters and got officially disowned from the family. It all just happened so fast."

"What happened?"

"I was a shitty brother. I was suppose to look out for Regulus. We only had each other and Andy growing up. We were terrified of the rest of our cousins-"

"Andy?" Bill interrupted.

"My older cousin Andromeda. She's Tonk's mother. Anyways, I had always promised I'd be there for him and I wasn't. Where was I when he was off being bullied by my parents into being a "perfect" Black heir? Where was I when they forced him to join the death eaters? Not there." Bill could see such deep sadness in Sirius' eyes that it almost hurt to look at him.

"And you know what the worst part was? He even came to me when we were both at school and begged me to take him with me to the Potters. He begged me to help him leave."

"And you didn't?" I whispered.

Sirius nodded, "In my mind, he had gotten himself in to deep. He had made his own decisions and I wasn't even going to try to help him out of it. I was selfish."

"Sirius. I'm- I'm so sorry." Bill tried to get out. Sirius waved off his apology.

"Don't apologize. I don't deserve it. But, I use to think he was a complete moron. An absolute git. Kind of like what you think of your brother right now."

Bill nodded, "I just don't get how he could walk out on us. After all we've done for him and after all he's seen."

"That doesn't matter Bill. What matters is that you keep your arms and mind open. One day he is going to come back and he's going to want your forgiveness. That's all that you can do for now." And with that Sirius downed the rest of his glass and stood up.

He placed his glass in the sink, returned the bottle of fire whiskey to the cupboard and started towards the kitchen door.

"Hey Sirius?" Bill asked as he turned around back in his chair. Sirius stopped and turned to face the red head.

"What happened?"

"To what?" Sirius asked confused.

"Regulus? What happened to him?"

Sirius sighed and turned his eyes to the floor. Bill could tell this apparently was a touchy subject.

"Sorry for asking." Bill mumbled and started to turn back to his butter beer.

"No. Its alright." Sirius' voice answered, "He- He was killed. I'm not sure how it happened, but he's been gone now for almost 16 years. He died young, at only 19."

"Oh." Bill thought of Percy. Percy was going to be 19 in two months. Bill couldn't imagine Percy being killed at such an age. It seemed so unfair.

"Remember what I said Bill." and then Sirius was gone and Bill was alone in the kitchen once more.

**THE END**


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